As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
As processors, graphics cards, random access memory (RAM) and other components in information handling systems have increased in clock speed and power consumption, the amount of heat produced by such components as a side-effect of normal operation has also increased. Often, the temperatures of these components need to be kept within a reasonable range to prevent overheating, instability, malfunction and damage leading to a shortened component lifespan. Accordingly, air movers (e.g., cooling fans and blowers) have often been used in information handling systems to cool information handling systems and their components.
To control temperature of components of an information handling system, an air mover may direct air over one or more heatsinks thermally coupled to individual components. Some information handling systems support multiple heat sink solutions for the same component (e.g., processor), for example, as an acoustic option for consumers who prefer quieter systems with low air mover speeds.
Control of an air mover typically uses a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) closed-loop control system in order to regulate air mover speed and maintain acceptable temperatures of components. Typical PID closed-loop control is based on a mathematical equation summing proportional, integral, and derivative terms of the variable (e.g., air mover speed) being controlled. To prevent instability, oscillation, and/or lag, and/or to optimize PID control, a PID controller often utilizes parameters (e.g., mathematical coefficients) that may be defined to a particular component, but may not be readily differentiated for different heat sinks without adding a heat sink detection circuit or developing a more complex adaptive control scheme. Because optimizing such parameters may be dependent upon the transient thermal response of a heat sink, it may not be possible to optimize for multiple heat sink solutions.